Energized over Energy...

John & I went to an energy conference yesterday just because... It was VERY exciting to hear about some of the things that are happening in the area of alternative energy in our area. Morrisville College is turning cow manure into methane. SUNY School of Forestry is turning used oil from their kitchens into biodiesel. The City of Auburn is making use of their hydropower along the river and is using geothermal to heat and cool its buildings. Plus NY has all its wind farms.

In the afternoon John & I took the tour of the closest windfarm where 20 large turbines are almost silently producing non-polluting electricity. This is the same windfarm that I mentioned yesterday that our electric company is drawing for a weekend getaway to. For the life of me I don't know how you would spend the weekend. The tour (which was VERY thorough) only took an hour and a half. Other things to see and do in Fenner? Well the town (there is no village that I know of) has only a population of about 1600 with four times as many cows. So maybe if you're into milking cows...

Anyway these wind turbines are BIG - 200+ feet tall before you even add the 3 props. The props each weigh 7.5 tons (a huge craine put them up there) and are about 120 feet long. (The one on the ground was given to Fenner for their planned education center for communities to learn about installing wind energy generators.) These propellers were made out of balsa wood and alumnimum in Brazil although we were told GE is now making them out of plastic. Everything is controlled by a computer that turns them to face the optimum wind currents.

Our guide lives in Fenner and was instrumental in getting them installed. The average person is not allowed to go up in them. However, because of his involvement with the project, he was able to arrange for him and his wife to go to the top of one (it was being worked on at the time) for their anniversary. He also mentioned that to get to the top you have to strap on a 65 lb. safety harness and climb a 210 foot ladder inside the post. (So what happened to dinner and roses?!!) He said when his daughter called to ask what they had done on their anniversary he told her they "got high and physical"...

One last note to Joe - turns out most of the guys who work on these turbines, both installing and maintaining them, are ex-Navy guys. Want to give up golf in your retirement and move north Joe?